Yes, just this one kit, some new budget introduction to their line. Now we must wait for reviews, some please buy one

Kind of misses my point. If you BUY an item that has a domestic manufacturing component to it, you're helping to keep jobs in the US, along with the skills that go along with it.

There's also the fact that your money is helping to support a company that pays their people a living wage and treats their people well. Sort of why I don't really like going to Walmart: junk products from China designed to the lowest price point possible, sold by a company that does the bare minimum to care for its workers...

Your point is well taken. FMIC has dealings with China and Mexico. I was a Shop Steward with the IAM for many years and feel for the American worker. You will be hard pressed to find anything made entirely in America anymore. Fender does the same thing. Look where many of Fender's products are manufactured. Check out what's going on in the Cort Factory. They make guitars for Fender as well as many others. Why is it you can get a Mesa Trans Atlantic head made in the U.S. for less than a one knob 5 watt amp? There is a lot of hand-work involved in a Mesa. Peavey manufacturers here too. Most of this stuff is only assembled here, not manufactured here.

Sorry don't want to make this political.

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

No worries. Perhaps if more companies knew that there are customers who are willing to pay extra for American products, they'd still offer them.

Even if Fender could make guitars in China that surpassed the MIA guitars in every measure of quality possible, I'd still prefer the MIA guitar. An MIA guitar is a work of art, a made in China guitar is a work of economics.

Believe me, nothing pisses me off more than all this imported stuff by American companies. When you consider the when my father bought me my Strat in 1972 for $300, it translates into roughly $1500 in today's dollars. That same $300 translates into $57 today. It's all sheer greed and profits. That's why I chuckle every time somebody whines about how much an American made Strat costs. The price is only adjusted for inflation.

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

I was checking out the prices of acoustics recently and nearly fainted... then I remembered that a good acoustic guitar should be viewed in the same light as other string instruments. The cost of cellos, violins, etc. can be astronomical.

Buying USA does not keep the jobs in the USA, It’s more, spreading money throughout the USA. There is more cost to a Corporation you will ever understand. And, Corporation only profits with Growth/expansion via competition and takeover.

For example, when you pay thousands of $ for a Fender USA Stratocaster, this is what you pay for.
1) Corporate shareholders, their members, affiliates, board members and their staff.
2) Insurance, legal consultants, medical expenses for workers compensation, and their company affiliates.
3) Labor and government labor unions and their legal and administrative staff.
4) Outsourcing and, management and their administration and quality assurance teams.
5) Marketing and advertising and their affiliates, and the occasional company fraud and theft.
6) Transportation Storage: Warehouse cost, packing shipping and ordering parts & components for assembly.
7) Finally, the workers and managers who are at the bottom of this corporate food chain, the ones who assemble, finish and inspect the product.

You can bet your bottom line that when it comes time to reduce/cut, the ones on the bottom with be the first to go.

So if you buy MIA from FMIC don’t think you are just paying a small group of Fender guitar builders for making a fine instrument. Think of it as spreading the wealth. And if you buy FMIC made in another country, just factor out # 7.

I fully understand all of that. My Master's is in International Business. I've worked for companies that import products, manufacture in the US, and sell aboard.

Here's the flip side of that: if you factor out #7, two things eventually happen. 1) You lose the ability to produce those items in the US over time. 2) Those workers will need to find other jobs.

Item number 1 is troubling, because you increase your reliance on other countries -- you pin your supply of goods and costs on your relationship with that country, the whims of the FX markets, intellectual property theft, etc.

Item number 2 is troubling, because contrary to popular belief, we don't shed manufacturing jobs for "better" jobs. Some people might end up in cushy office jobs, but most low level office jobs aren't all that great from a career/benefits/job security standpoint. Others end up in Walmart type jobs.

Make no mistake: when you buy cheap foreign products, you're basically saying that you'd rather let domestic manufacturing jobs disappear without regard to what happens afterwards. Those formerly skilled workers who end up earning less afterwards (the majority of them) are able to afford less -- it's a downward cycle that only continues to erode the existence of a middle class in this country.

At the end of the day, globalization sounds great on paper, but only if you abstract away the actual human impact it has. As long as you view the systemic shifts as figures on a sheet of paper, there's no way you can be against it. When you reflect on the industries and ways of life that have disappeared, it's a different story altogether.

Go to the store and buy clothing, a radio, a TV, some pots and pans... good luck finding ones that are made in the USA (it didn't use to be that way). Perhaps go to Red Lobster tonight and get some shrimp -- those shrimp flew all the way from Thailand just to have the pleasure of being eaten.

In the 1990's, the Camaro was advertised as coming from "the country that brought you rock and roll". Apparently, Ike Turner was Canadian, because that's where they built the car.

The bottom line is this: think about the job you do. Odds are, we can find someone in another country to do the job for less than you can do it. If it's absolutely impossible to send your job oversees, then there's the question of if we can import someone from another country to do the job here. There's not much left when you factor out those two categories, and most of those jobs are low paying ones. If you care about your own job, you need to care about the jobs of other people in your country, and buying domestic is the best way to express that concern.

+1

I needed a new cordless drill/screwdriver recently and I had to drive all over town just to find one that wasn't built in the PRC......it seems that Americans are too proud to even build their own powertools anymore. And durable tools were once a hallmark of American craftsmanship.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

gar1013 Welcome to the forum!! I like the way you think.
I agree 100%. I came from a time that I could quit a job and get a better one the same day! Philadelphia, Pa was a mecca of manufacturing and big corporations. Now it's a mecca of gang warfare, drugs and corruption (even though it was always corrupt) as well as abandoned factories and other businesses. I know a little about the cost of a corporation because my wife and I own a small corporation and I am the sole proprietor of a professional photography business.

TTSC don't underestimate forum members. We all have many facets to our lives that you will never understand.

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

[/quote]

I fully understand all of that. My Master's is in International Business. I've worked for companies that import products, manufacture in the US, and sell aboard.

Here's the flip side of that: if you factor out #7, two things eventually happen. 1) You lose the ability to produce those items in the US over time. 2) Those workers will need to find other jobs.

Item number 1 is troubling, because you increase your reliance on other countries -- you pin your supply of goods and costs on your relationship with that country, the whims of the FX markets, intellectual property theft, etc.

Item number 2 is troubling, because contrary to popular belief, we don't shed manufacturing jobs for "better" jobs. Some people might end up in cushy office jobs, but most low level office jobs aren't all that great from a career/benefits/job security standpoint. Others end up in Walmart type jobs.

Make no mistake: when you buy cheap foreign products, you're basically saying that you'd rather let domestic manufacturing jobs disappear without regard to what happens afterwards. Those formerly skilled workers who end up earning less afterwards (the majority of them) are able to afford less -- it's a downward cycle that only continues to erode the existence of a middle class in this country.

At the end of the day, globalization sounds great on paper, but only if you abstract away the actual human impact it has. As long as you view the systemic shifts as figures on a sheet of paper, there's no way you can be against it. When you reflect on the industries and ways of life that have disappeared, it's a different story altogether.

Go to the store and buy clothing, a radio, a TV, some pots and pans... good luck finding ones that are made in the USA (it didn't use to be that way). Perhaps go to Red Lobster tonight and get some shrimp -- those shrimp flew all the way from Thailand just to have the pleasure of being eaten.

In the 1990's, the Camaro was advertised as coming from "the country that brought you rock and roll". Apparently, Ike Turner was Canadian, because that's where they built the car.

The bottom line is this: think about the job you do. Odds are, we can find someone in another country to do the job for less than you can do it. If it's absolutely impossible to send your job oversees, then there's the question of if we can import someone from another country to do the job here. There's not much left when you factor out those two categories, and most of those jobs are low paying ones. If you care about your own job, you need to care about the jobs of other people in your country, and buying domestic is the best way to express that concern.[/quote]

excellent post!...nothing i can argue with there.

Indeed.

One of the finest dissertations I've ever read!

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

My point exactly.

SOLID!


"Globalization looks good on paper".

Globalization is a reality, weather we choose to believe it or not, and let the world pass us by while we hold on to our belief that we can some how control global expansion.

Hey guys, I've been reading on your posts and they have all been very enlightning. I made a downpayment yesterday for a 57 Champ, I wan't a good practice-studio take it to small gigs kind of amp and have been hearing great reviews about this one. I've done some reaserch for a while and finally decided to buy it. I don't think it's overpriced at all; hell roadworn Mex Strats cost almost that; I have a very little amp to listen to music made by Mineappolis based company Audio Research and it's only 50 watts and ran me for 4k; so I think a hand wired, all tube made in Corona Cali from the Custom Shop for 1k is pretty decent. I respect your opinion on the build it yourself motto but do not agree and I can understand the pride in making something with your own hands and knowledge and in the process saving yourself a few bucks but, to me at least; I want a company to stand by the money I spent so if for some reason the amp fails I know I have FMIC to back me up and either repair or altogether replace it with a new one; you can never get that from a build it yourself, and even if it looks like a Fender, sounds like a Fender, BUT WAS NOT ACTUALLY MADE BY FENDER, well fill in the blank and for $400 extra bucks I think it's well worth it to just leave it to the experts; after all THEY ARE THE EXPERTS and have been for 50 plus years. One more thing that I think is important and this is just my opinion after dealing with tube amps for a while, ONE SHOULD NEVER offer an opinion (not talking about you, talking about the reviews you find on the website) on a tube amp unless one has run the tubes and the speaker for a minimum of 1 year or 200 hours; believe me, the differences ARE HUGE; but I know I should not tell you this, most likely you already know. My two cents.
Cheers everyone!
M.